


Carnage

by AliceinHyruleBastion



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Abusive Homes (canon-type), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Human Experimentation, M/M, Oh wait here's one I missed:, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, There's other stuff I'm sure I'm also missing but oh well, Violence (hella), You know it's gonna be a good day when you get to add that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 06:09:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10565220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceinHyruleBastion/pseuds/AliceinHyruleBastion
Summary: In a world where you are attached to a soulmate who shares your pain, being in a classroom of assassins and constant danger is really not the best of places to be.Also when your soulmate's mother is an abusive bitch.It's even worse when you yourself are seen as unlovable and untouchable, and you live in a place where same-sex soulmates are not entirely... respected.This is the trouble of Akabane Karma.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> I'm just going to throw this into the void of the fandom and sprint because I have no idea what the hell this is, so just go with it?
> 
> It's got mostly canon-type violence spare a few instances of detailed violence, so please don't read this if up-close pain (choking, broken bones, panic, etc.) upsets you!
> 
> I had some strange kind of fun being in the head of Karma, I'll tell you that.
> 
> As always, please ask questions if you have any and comments and critiques are highly appreciated!  
> (I have a body-swap sequel in the works, but I haven't worked on it recently. If you'd be interested in seeing it, please let me know!)

It's not easy when your soulmate is the same sex as you, _and_ you happen to live in Japan.

It's even harder when everyone's opinion of you hinges around the fact that you only care for one person and one only: yourself.

 

My name is Akabane Karma, and no one believes I have soulmate. Apparently, I give off the aura that I'm too narcissistic and uncaring (read: a dick) to _possibly_ have someone who's meant to be my one and only. And I'm fine with that.

 

Funny thing is, I do have one.

And everyone I know's already met him.

 

\---

 

To me, soulmates are an embarrassment, and just a hindrance. I mean c'mon, what's even the point of being paired up with someone who shares your pain? It's nothing but ridicule and awkward stories as to why your suddenly started bleeding in the middle of class or why you're suddenly sporting a black eye.

 

That's why I didn't tell people about mine. That, and the fact that _he_ begged me not to because he knew his devil of a mother would be furious (for a reason I still don't know).

 

 I don't really remember if I did it for myself or for him anymore, but I remember when the wall came crashing down so everyone could see what I had been trying to hide, and suspicions, teasing, and even _betting_ had begun to plague the E-Class.

 

And suddenly, I was faced with something I wasn't quite sure how to deal with:

Romance?

 

\---

 

_It_ started while I was at school, in the middle of a boring history lesson (something about the history of ancient poetry? I didn't really care to notice), with one person uncharacteristically absent: Shiota Nagisa. The class was uneasy and worried, as he was only called in absent by his mother (whom everybody knows is bat-shit crazy) with no other excuse, and as I said earlier, Nagisa is _never_ absent (and I'm not being hyperbolic). The whole situation set my teeth on edge, but I was trying not to let it bother me. 

 

For most of the day I'd been fine, absently listening to Koro-sensei bounce from topic to topic, but in the middle of history I started to feel burning in my scalp, as if someone had grabbed my hair and _yanked,_ and it took everything I had not to jump in my seat.

 

_What the hell was happening?_

(I unconsciously tightened my fingers around my pencil, digging my nails into the wood.)

 

Eventually, the sharp pain faded into a dull throbbing, and my fingertips were drumming unconsciously to its beat. My eyes flicked around the room, not really focusing on one thing as Koro-sensei's lesson droned on, and I tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling gnawing at my stomach and sliding under my ribs.

 

_He's fine, Karma, relax,_ I chastised myself, letting out a small huff of irritation as I shifted in my seat, crossing my legs. (I could feel a few curious glances at my obvious discomfort, but I restrained myself from glaring back at them.)

 

The wary feeling only grew as Koro-sensei switched into the discussion of _kanshi_ and how it borrowed structure and originated from China's Han poetry, and I started to feel as if something anxious had slid under my skin and I had to scratch it out. Something ugly was coiling just behind my sternum, and I wanted to claw it out my chest. 

 

I had no idea what was going on, and I was torn between feeling irritated at the disruption or feeling worried about Nagisa. My brain (and heart?) were too jumbled to figure it out, and I was frustrated at the fogginess of it.

 

This internal dispute claimed my attention, stealing it further away from the lesson, and I cursed myself for the troublesomeness of it.

 

_Dammit, Nagisa._

 

My eyes zeroed in on the clock, and I swore I could hear its monotonous heartbeat burning through the walls. My fingers started drumming again in uncharacteristic flighty fidgeting.

 

(Maybe I can wait until lunch to check on him. Yeah, just wait a little bit longer-)

 

Sharply and out of the blue, I felt as if a burning bucket of ice water flushed through my veins and surprised gasp slipped from my lips before I could stop it as bruising streaks of fire scraped across my right cheek, and I slapped a hand to it, wincing. I felt the class's rhythm stutter at my minor interruption, but I ignored it as I pulled my fingers from my face, eyes widening as I saw blood smeared there. I traced gingerly along my cheek, and felt sharp cuts hidden amongst the main wound. 

 

Something sharp and bitter curled in my chest, and my lips twisted into a silent snarl. 

That _bitch_.

 

(Of course you weren't angry at Nagisa, you just told yourself that because you didn't want to justify why you were worried about him, why you _cared-)_  

 

I snatched my phone from my bag and pushed up harshly out my chair, stalking towards the front door with one hand curled around my phone and the other attempting to stem the blood coming from my cheek. I heard chatter break out amongst the class and I heard Koro-sensei stop his lesson, but I was too _angry_ to care.

 

"Karma, where are you going?" I heard him ask, more cautiously curious than accusatory. I ignored him and kept walking, but felt a tentacle wrap gently around my bicep and turn me towards him. I hissed out a frustrated sigh. 

 

"I need to call someone, hence the reason I have a phone," I drawled, trying to disguise my concern for irritation. "Or would you prefer I interrupt class with my call?"

 

Though his features didn't change, I could feel something change in his mood. I knew he wasn't fooled. "Karma, your bloodlust is positively _broiling_ ," he stated quietly, and I turned my head away from him. He paused. "Is that blood I smell?" He added worriedly.

 

I jerked away from him, but he pulled my hand from my face and exposed the cuts there, and I winced when I heard the class react to it. 

 

"Karma-" he started, but I turned sharply on my heel and stalked out the door, slamming it shut behind me before any more damage could be done. _Dammit._

 

_Call Nagisa now, deal with that later,_ I nudged myself, and I walked down the hallway far enough that no one could eavesdrop, and sat down on the floor just next to the staff room. I dialed Nagisa's number, and I crossed my legs and leaned back against the wall as I waited for the call to go through. 

 

Come on, pick up, pick up. _Click_. There we go.

 

"Nagisa? That you?" I asked, but instead of his familiar voice I heard a scathing and female voice answer.

 

"Who is this?" She demanded.

 

I froze. _Shit_.

 

"This is a friend of Nagisa," I answered smoothly, "I'm one of his classmates. I was told to contact him to double check that he'd be able to make up the English test we have today."

 

No way she's gonna fall for that, come on Karma you can do better-

 

"Which one are you?" She asked suddenly, and I paused.

 

"Excuse me?" I asked dryly.

 

"Which one? If you're that Akabane boy, then I _swear_ -"

 

"No no, don't worry," I interrupted, heart rate jumping, "I'm... Isogai, the class rep." 

 

I was beyond confused, but I ignored that for the time being. I need to talk to Nagisa right now.

 

"Then go ahead, you can talk with him," she conceded, voice still wary. 

 

"Thank you. _Ma'am."_ I tacked on the honorific sardonically.

 

"No more than five minutes, _Isogai_ ," she instructed, and I rolled my eyes.

 

I heard a shuffle and a faint "What?" in the background before the phone was passed presumably to him. " _Isogai?_ " I heard him ask, confused. (I ignored how my anger dropped to nothingness as I heard his voice, and pretended I wasn't completely relived.)

 

"Nope," I answered, popping the 'p' lazily, "try again."

 

" ** _Karma_**?" I heard him whisper incredulously.

 

"The one and only."

 

_"Karma, what are you_ doing _?"_

 

_"_ What do you think? I started bleeding in the middle of class, so I figured I should check on on you."

 

A pause, then a quiet " _Oh_."

 

I waited, but only silence filled the call. "Nagisa. Are you alright?" I prodded.

 

" _I-I'm fine!"_ He stuttered, but I could hear the lie in the waver of his words.

 

"Come on, don't try and lie to me," I said, "I mean the proof is _literally_ on my face, not to mention _she_ was pretty intent on not let me- as in Karma- speak with you at all, so you better start talking."

 

I heard a sigh on the other end before he spoke up. " _My mom is upset with me because of my recent grades in math, and decided to keep me home today as a punishment because of it._ "

 

"So you got a free day?" I asked slowly, brow furrowing. "Does she make you study or something?"

 

I could practically feel the frantic shaking of his head. " _No, I don't think you get it; she has to stay_ home _, meaning she doesn't go to work. She's pretty much just been yelling at me all day since I got up, and I haven't seen her go sunny yet."_

 

Ah, sunny versus dark. Nagisa had explained this to me a while ago how his mother's mode fluctuates between normal and almost-kind to hellish and cruel. The darker phase is usually when she's go berserk and beat the crap out of Nagisa, and I'm most definitely aware of the brunt of her blows. But... something didn't add up.

 

"That can't have been all, Nagisa," I said bluntly. "You've done worse and ended up with less wounds than you have now."

 

He paused, and I heard his soft, hesitant breathing through the phone. There was something he didn't want to tell me. "Nagisa. Why wouldn't your mother let me talk to you?" I asked point-blank. 

 

He didn't answer for a long while, and I could feel a nervous twisting in my stomach that wasn't mine. "Na-"

 

" _I also accidentally told her about you!"_ He blurted, and I froze.

 

"... what?"

 

He let out a deep breath. " _She saw the wounds I got from the recent assassination attempt because they were too big to hide, and she completely flipped on me and demanded where I got the injuries, and it wasn't like I could say 'Oh I accidentally misfired a semi-automatic rifle because it jammed and it shot back and hit me in the face while trying to kill my monster-of-a-teacher' and it just sorta came out and_ then _I accidentally let slip that you're not exactly a girl and she went completely dark and_ oh my god _I am so sorry Karma it was an accident I swear-"_ He was babbling rapid-fire now, and I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes.

 

"Nagisa. I believe breathing may be a wise choice at the moment," I said, a small smile curving my lips.

 

" _But I-_

 

"Stop talking," I ordered softly, and I heard his jaw click shut. This time I did roll my eyes. "I'm not mad at you."

 

A beat. " _You're... not? But I thought you'd be furious with me!"_

 

 "Why?"

 

An uneasy silence crackled on the other end. " _Well... you've always been pretty touchy about us being, well, soulmates, even since the day we met, and I assumed you didn't want anyone to know, so I made sure I didn't tell,"_ he replied quietly.

 

I scoffed. "Nagisa, you've got it backwards," I corrected, "it was the _others_ who assumed I had no soulmate, not me telling others I hated mine or didn't have one."

 

"... _oh_."

 

I shrugged, though he couldn't see it. "I just don't really care too much about it," I added, ignoring the little pang of "You liar" nipping at my brain stem. 

 

" _I thought you didn't bring it up because I was...,_ " he paused, and I could envision him clearly biting his lip like he does when he's nervous, " _well, male._ " 

 

I frowned. "That's what you thought I had a problem with? Being gay?" I asked, and earned an awkward silence in response. "Nagisa, I'm soul-bound- somehow, through the gods themselves-  to a _guy;_ I clearly don't have a problem with it."

 

Another long pause, though this one was accompanied by the sounds of fidgeting and something dark blooming in my stomach. My cheek stung and pulsed, and as its pain resurfaced I felt unpleasant puzzle pieces slide together.  "What did your mother say?" I asked quietly.

 

" _Nothing_ ," he answered, too clipped and cold. 

 

_Liar_.

 

"Nagisa."

 

" _It was nothing I hadn't heard before_." His response was sharp and icy, and I could hear the "Step no further" painted on the underside of his words, like a cobra opening its bejeweled hood.

 

I ignored the warning.

 

"What. Did. She. Say," I said lowly, voice balanced between rage and worry like a deadly seesaw.

 

" _Karma_ ," he tried, voice wearily upset, but I cut him off.

 

"Tell me!" 

 

He snapped. " _She said I was disgusting, Karma, is that what you wanted to hear?_ " His answer was low and even, and so unlike him that I couldn't respond. " _She was horrified by the fact that my soulmate was_ male _, and that if I had been the_ daughter _she wanted so desperately I would have done so much better; I would have had better grades and studied better, and I would have never set foot in the E class, and she wouldn't have to hear me being associated with 'those stupid 3-E kids who only drag the school down'. She used the very thing that was decided for me_ by the gods _as an appropriate reason to hate me, and told me that she planned to_ fix _me._ That _is why she wouldn't let you answer; she demanded that I would never speak or associated myself with you, even as a friend._ "

 

Any reply I had dried on my tongue. His recitation was so dry and sharp, like he had had the words on repeat in his mind so long they'd burnt themselves into his mouth, yet not a trace of tears wavered in his voice. The happy, warm, gentle light of Nagisa was dimmed- no, _painted_ over in ugly streaks of self hatred. I didn't realize I had clenched my hands into fists until I felt them start to ache.

 

" _Do you understand why now?_ " He asked after a long silence, some of the softness coming back into his voice.

 

"No, actually, I don't," I answered, and I could feel him reel back in confusion. "I don't understand why your mother is such a horrific person, nor why she acts the way she does, and I don't _care;_ I'm an assassin, not a psychologist," I paused, taking a breath. "I just need to know if _you_ are okay."

 

"I'm _fi_ -" he started automatically, but an angry sound slipped past my lips.

 

"Don't give me that _shit_ , Nagisa! I can _feel_ you hurting!" I yelled, standing up, one hand running frustratedly through my hair as I started to pace.

 

Nagisa didn't respond, and only stunned silence buzzed through on the other end.

 

I must've been louder than I thought, because I heard the door to the staff room slide open and saw Mr. Karasuma poke his head out. "Is everything alright, Karma?" He asked, and I waved him off, face a bit red knowing he had heard me. 

 

"I'm fine, old man," I muttered, and he gave me funny look before sliding the door back shut.

 

I huffed and sat back down, pressing my ear back to the phone and leaning my chin on my hand, my elbow digging into my thigh. "You still there, Nagisa?" I asked blandly, and heard a squeak from the other end. I cocked an eyebrow. "Helllllllo?"

 

" _I..._ "

 

"Come on, spit it out," I said, shifting uncomfortably as I waited for his reply. 

 

I heard a soft noise that sounded suspiciously like a weak laugh before he answered. " _I didn't realize you cared about me that much, Karma._ "

 

My eyes widened. "Shut up," I snapped immediately, face burning again. I heard Nagisa break into full-blown laughter, his voice raising oceans in the drought stuck between my ribcage. (I'm not sure what this is, and I'm not sure what to think.)

 

" _Thank you, Karma,_ " he said quietly once he'd stopped laughing, and I clicked my tongue in response. 

 

"'s not like I did anything," I answered, but It wasn't like I could ignore the warmth of Nagisa's gratitude glowing like a hearth in my chest. 

 

I heard a tinny voice in the background interrupt what he'd been about to say. " _I... have to go,_ " he said suddenly, voice sad. " _I'm sorry._ "

 

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," I replied automatically, and heard a rushed hum of affirmation before I ended the call, hearing the bell for lunch ring softly in the distance. 

 

I sighed, flipping my phone shut and sliding it into my pocket, chasing away the odd melancholy I felt once Nagisa's voice cut off. _No, just ignore it_ , I thought to myself, wincing at the scratches as they pulled along my face. 

 

I got to my feet in my huff, dusting off my pants before heading back to the classroom, where I heard a jitter of lunchtime conversations gnawing at the wood of the door. 

 

_This is... gonna be irritating_ , I thought, annoyed, and slid open door, hoping to slink to the back of the room before anyone noticed me. _They'll be too distracted by their own conversations to notice me, so I should be fine._

 

"Yo, Akabane!" Nakamura- that devil- called the minute I stepped in the room, and everyone paused to look at us.

 

Dammit.

 

"What d'you want?" I snarked.

 

I watched as she turned around in her seat, straddling her chair, and tapped her cheek. "What's goin' on there?"

 

"Nothing," I answered airily, crossing my arms.

 

"Uh-huh," she said slowly, nodding sarcastically.

 

"We all saw you tear out of here like a bat outta hell," Terasaka called.

 

"And we heard yelling in the hall!" Sugino added from the other side of the room.

 

I groaned internally. " _Nothing_ ," I said emphatically, and headed to my seat.

 

"Was it your soulmate?" Kayano yelled, and I froze. "Is that why your face is all scratched up?" 

 

I glared at her. 

 

My lack of an answer must of been an answer in itself, and she jumped up excitedly. "It _was!"_ She squealed, and flounced over to where I was, Nakamura hot on her heels.

 

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be stupid."

 

Nakamura tsked at me, poking my (uninjured) cheek. "You're blushing~" she teased, and I turned my face away from her.

 

"Shut it," I said sharply, feeling the eyes of everyone on me.

 

"You should get this treated," a voice said quietly behind me, and I glanced to see Okuda, our little poisons master herself, examining me worriedly. 

 

"I'm fine," I said exasperatedly.

 

"To the contrary, Karma," Koro-sensei's voice said suddenly in my ear, and it took every fiber in my body not to scream right there. 

 

I slapped Nakamura's hand away and turned to Koro-sensei, giving him a smile as sincere as mocking bird. "And what makes you say that, Octopus?"

 

"Leaving gashed skin out to the elements without proper treatment could quickly lead to infection," he started casually, and I jumped as I felt his tentacles flying over my injured cheek as he applied a salve and started bandaging it, "and bruised skin that has not been iced properly can swell and become extremely painful."

 

He stepped back, checking his work, and I raised a hand to my face incredulously, feeling the edges of the bandage there. 

 

"How does that feel, Karma?" He asked.

 

"It feels-" I started, but paused when I moved, and felt bandaging elsewhere:

 

Small bandages around my fingers from where I had burnt them this morning making rice,  as well as a few from where Nagisa had accidentally jammed them in a door; one by my shoulder blades from a few days ago when Nagisa had slammed into something and bruised his back; a few littered behind my neck and around my biceps from harsh training, and one on my left hip and thigh that were bound in a chemically treated bandage that warmed the sore muscles and bruising underneath it, and I realized they were from earlier in class when Nagisa's mother had snapped, and I could perfectly see the image of her shoving him harshly into the edge of the sharp counter. I didn't even _know_ half of the injuries he had treated, and I was stunned at the his attention to detail.

 

I gave him a funny look. "It feels fine, Koro-sensei," I answered smoothly, and I saw his face then pink in self-satisfaction.

 

"Good, good," he warbled. "Just so you know, the treatment I applied should work both ways, so the _other_ _person_ should heal properly as well," he added mischievously, and my face immediately flamed at his intent.

 

"Hah! I _knew_ it!" Kayano crowed, and I pressed a hand into my face, groaning.

 

I heard that weird laugh of his, and saw him wedge himself between Kayano and Nakamura. "So, who's your soulmate? You don't have to tell us of course, but if you did it would extremely fascinating," he rattled, face turning a darker pink as he laced his tentacles in front of him like a leering school girl and fixed me with a look.

 

(One of Nagisa's notes ran through my head, and I remembered just how much Koro-sensei liked to gossip. Damn octopus.)

 

"I'm not telling you," I said firmly, and heard disappointed whines fill the room. I leaned around the crowd of people in front of me to glare at the rest of the eavesdropping room. Everyone- even _Ritsu_ \- was looking at me intently. 

 

_The hell guys, get a life._

 

"I thought you didn't have a soulmate?" Isogai, who was sitting with Kanzaki and Maehara, said thoughtfully.

 

"Yeah!" Someone fired across the room, and I swore it was from that silver-haired guy.

 

"Ain't he too self-centered for one?" I heard one of Terasaka's crew mumble, and I rolled my eyes, pushing out of my chair and grabbing my bag before heading out of the room.

 

"Oi! We're not done! Where are you going?" Nakamura yelled, and I shrugged.

 

"Goin' to lunch," I answered simply, and slid the door shut, silencing the irritating jabber of 3-E.

 

"God, so _annoying_ ," I huffed, and headed out of the building, only to be interrupted by the staff room door opening and seeing Bitch-sensei stepping out and asking "What's this about you having a soulmate, Akabane?" 

 

She looked so positively _malicious_ with glee _,_ and I groaned loudly, slamming the door of the school building shut behind me.

 

\---

 

The next day yielded sleep-bruises under my eyes from nightmares that weren't mine, and my cheek was a nasty shade of purple and yellow and dark red scabs. I had cleaned it and put a fresh bandage on, cringing as the antibacterial stung. 

 

I ended up sloughing my way to school, not bothering to try and be late today, and ended walking in way early. I had earned a few curious looks from the few people already there (Isogai, Kanzaki and Okuda, and Sugino, who came in just behind me), and even got a slightly confused "Good morning, Karma," from Koro-sensei. I had ignored them and slumped down in my seat, pulling out my phone to waste time.

 

I didn't know if Nagisa would be here today, and my mind was a war with itself as to whether I should care or not. I decided on the latter, and put my face down on the desk, letting my eyes slip shut. 

 

I still focused on the noise around me as people started to trickle in, and I heard more and more voices start to fill the air with ridiculous conversations ("Did you see last night's episode?" "Yeah dude, it was _insane_!" Or "Hey, do you think you can help me with my assassination today?" Or "Ugh, we get our English tests back today." "I totally failed, I _know_ I did!" "Hey, keep your chin up!") 

 

I didn't really focus too much on the actual conversation until I heard a loud "Nagisa! You're here!" from Kayano, and I lifted my head up as subtly as I could, wincing at the twinge from my cheek. 

 

And there he was, halfway through the door with a deer-in-headlights look on his face as everyone (who was here this early) greeted him excitedly, and bombarded him with questions. Curiously, I watched as he walked over to his desk barely saying anything as Sugino and Kayano started to talk his ears off, and I saw Nakamura turn around and give me a sly look at my... observation. I glared at her, but she just tittered and turned back around.

 

Every nerve in my body was screaming to move, go greet him, take his attention from the others for a bit, but I stayed put, my eyes trained on his back. 

 

He seemed... off today, and wasn't talking as much, nor seemed as enthusiastic as usual. It was like he was dulled, and from here I could see that his clothes were more rumpled than usual and his hair was up in messy and knotted pigtails. I frowned to myself, but didn't let my mind go any further.

 

Eventually, and turned by chance towards the back of the room, and his eyes latched onto me, freezing once we made eye contact. His eyes went wide and he opened his mouth to say something, only to close it and turn back around to Kayano. 

 

I sat up fully at that, shooting his back a funny glance (and ignoring the one from Nakamura again) before sliding out of my seat and swinging myself onto the surface of the one just behind Nagisa, announcing myself with a "Yo."

 

He jumped, and I cocked my head at his reaction. "You get up late today, Nagisa?" I asked.

 

He sighed, and hung his head, not looking at me.

 

"Nagisa, what's wrong?" Kayano asked, reaching out touch his elbow, and he flinched. 

 

Okay, something was wrong.

_Very_ wrong.

 

"Hey," I said quietly, tapping his shin with my shoe. He turned his face further away from me. "Nagisa, why aren't you looking at me?"

 

He looked up at me then, face stretched on a smile that two parts fake and one part apologetic. "It's nothing, Karma, I just had a bad morning."

 

My eyes skimmed his face, confused, and paused when they landed on what should have been his injured cheek, but saw smooth and unmarked skin. 

_Mostly_  unmarked that is.

 

I knew makeup when I saw it, and I could tell the difference between a shoddy job and one done by a practiced hand: Nagisa doesn't know how to do makeup, and yet the edges of the bandage plastering his cheek were expertly hidden by layers of foundation.   As his expression grew sadder at my understanding, I remember his words on the phone from yesterday: 

 

"That _is why she wouldn't let you answer; she demanded that I would never speak or associated myself with you, even as a friend._ "

 

My mouth opened slightly to something, _anything_ , but he just shook his head, hiding his eyes under his bangs.

 

" _I'm sorry_ ," was what his body language was saying, and I felt dread pool in my stomach.

 

I reached out with this time, and placed my hand on his shoulder, turning him fully towards me. "Nagisa, don't be sorry," I said quietly, not perceptible by anyone but him. "It's not your fault." 

 

He just shook his head, and he looked up at me eyes dark and sad, his hand lifting towards my cheek before jerking away dropping back down, as if he was guilty of his action. "I-" his voice cracked and hitched, almost silently, and my eyes widened as his shoulders started shaking. It felt like a dam had broken somewhere in my chest, but it felt like a ghost of an echo, like something stuck in a mirror.

 

_He's crying_ , I realized.

_He's crying because of me._

 

I saw the first trail of tears slip down his face,  and saw him quickly reach up to wipe them away, and-against my better judgment-I stood up and immediately pulled him towards me in a crushing hug, wrapping my arms around him and resting my chin on top of his head. (I could smell _him_ and his shampoo tickling my nose, but I ignored that-) 

 

I felt him curl into me, almost instinctively, hiding his face in my chest and fisting the fabric just under my shoulder blades. I could feel him shaking, could feel his tears staining my shirt, but his crying was near silent, punctuated by silent gasps and hitching breaths, and my heart _broke_. (Nagisa, as small and helpless as he looked, had a will of iron, and in all the years I've known him I've _never_ seen him cry, not even at the worst of injuries.)

 

I let out a deep a deep breathe, squeezing him tighter, and shut my eyes. He had reached a breaking point yesterday, I realized. "Do you want me to take you somewhere? Somewhere away?" I murmured against his hair, and I felt him hesitate before nodding. 

 

I reached behind me and grabbed his wrists, gently pulling him from my chest and looking down at him. "C'mon then, let's go."

 

Through his tear-stained and puffy face, I watched a look of admonishment break onto his face. " _Karma_ , no! We have school!" He exclaimed exasperatedly.

 

I rolled my eyes, and twisted my grip so that my hands cupped his and I thumbed his palms, rubbing them just softly enough that it was both teasingly ticklish and caring, and pretended that I didn't enjoy the blush that crawled up his cheeks. "Fine. After, then?" I conceded, feeling a small smile curve my lips.

 

He leaned forwards and knocked his forehead back into my chest, but I could feel a smile move against my shirt. "Sounds good," he said, and I laughed quietly. 

 

When he peeled himself from me and rubbed his eyes, I realized the room had gone silent, and that all eyes were on us. I heard a whistle and immediately traced it to Nakamura, who was starting to work on my nerves, and the sudden gravity of what had just happened fell straight down on my head.

 

I felt Nagisa pause and look up at me. "Karma, are you al... right..." he trailed off, and I realized one of my hands had tightened on his shoulder.

 

"Yo, Akabane, your face is redder than your hair," Maehara called, mischievous smile on his face. Isogai (who was sitting next to him) smacked him in the shoulder. 

 

The class started snickering, and I saw Nakamura lean on her desk with her chin in her palm, eyebrows waggling seductively at us. 

 

"Your face _is_ pretty red, Karma," Nagisa mumbled, and I poked him in the ribs.

 

"Not like you can talk," I chided, and his hands flew to his face, eyes widening at how flushed his cheeks were and his face got darker. 

 

"Oh ho, what am I missing _here_?" Koro-sensei called from the front of the room, and we whipped around to see him in full gossip mode.

 

A disdained noise hooked in the back of my throat, and I let go of Nagisa's vest and stalked back to my seat without a backwards glance, and hid my face in my arms. Nagisa was left standing next to Kayano and Sugino red-faced and confused, and he quickly sat down with his hands in his lap.

 

Koro-sensei sighed dramatically. "I _always_ miss the juicy stuff," he complained before shooing everyone to their seats to start class. However, he paused at Nagisa's desk, and I heard him ask "Are you feeling better today?", only to get a mute and embarrassed nod from Nagisa. Koro-sensei sent me a look, then backed up and turned towards the board, declaring that our English tests were excellent.

 

However, his words weren't settling, as I was still stuck on one thought:

Koro-sensei _knows_.

 

(Little did I know, the rest of the class was going to pick it up rather quickly too.)

 

\---

 

From dodging questions, to reckless matchmaking attempts and even irritating snooping, I was already exhausted by the end of the week.

 

However, it seemed that neither I nor Nagisa would get a break as all of us were sent off on a mission (by Mr. Karasuma himself) in search of a cure for Koro-sensei. The bureau had gotten their hands on a location where it was rumored that the doctor who originally experimented on Koro-sensei had run off to and started up again. 

 

Our mission was relatively easy: The class split up into two groups (one with the agile, distance types, and the other were the up-front fighters) and searched the building, being on guard for runaways or wild patients. 

 

Each of was wired with a headset and paired with someone from the other team (as well as Mr. Karasuma), and unsurprisingly, o was paired with Nagisa. (When I had been told my assignment, I stared the culprit-Kayano- straight in the face and said "Are you serious?" In the most dry tone I could muster, and when I leaned around to call "Looks like you're stuck with me, Nagisa!", I had pretended I didn't enjoy seeing his ears and the back of his neck go red.)

 

At the moment, I had his voice buzzing in my ear, telling me that Ritsu had finished deactivating my sector, and I motioned to the rest of the group behind me (Sugino, Isogai, Fuwa, Okano, Nakamura, and Hazama; Itona, Terasaka, and Yoshida had gone down the other side of the hallway to scout ahead). "The route should be clear," I whispered, "but that doesn't mean we can drop our guard. Got it?" I saw vague nods in the darkness. I gestured to move forwards.

 

With one hand pressed against the wall to my left, I touched two fingers to the device in my ear. "We're moving now, approaching from the east side. You guys are moving from the north?" I asked quietly.

 

" _Yeah_ ," I heard him answer. " _Ritsu says that this is the best room to start with, but it's blocked from our sensors._ " 

 

"Hm. Well, what's the word on experiments. Any loose?"

 

" _Why don't you ask her yourself?_ " he replied, and I narrowed my eyes at his reply. 

 

"Don't sass me in the middle of the mission," I shot back dryly, but pulled out my phone anyway and activated Ritsu's application. She materialized with a muted glow, and she was dressed in an identical outfit to ours.

 

"Hello, Karma," she said cheerily, her voice bright in my ear, "you need data on experiments?"

 

"Yup," I said, before gesturing for the group to stop. "What'cha got for me?"

 

"One second, please!" She hummed, and I saw her body dissolve into rivulets of data and heard her humming to herself as she pulled up the info. "There are a recorded twenty-one 'patients' who signed up for his immortality trial, yet I've hacked into his personal files to find that seventeen of the initial patients died due to the stresses of the experiment, though the only information I could find on the parameters of the experiment were ' _tentacles_ ', ' _injections under skin_ ', ' _restrained_ ', ' _night-terrors/nightmares'_ , and a few marked in ' _psychosis_ ’. Information written on how experiments were operated we not documented, nor was the equipment,” she recited.  "I will patch this info to the rest of your group.” 

 

“Thanks,” I said absently as I switched my phone off, and turned to face my group, checking to see if they had read the info.

 

“Jeez,” I heard Isogai breathe, “‘ _subject 006 was reported to have high levels of excess adrenaline, which sharply vacillated from terror to bloodlust. After killing the first two assistants who checked up on her, she was restrained indefinitely with electric manacles and bound at the wrists, ankles, neck, and ribs. Subject has shown no change with the additions, and has tried to remove the restraints by chewing through her own flesh._ ” He hissed out a sharp breath, rubbing his face. “This is awful.”

 

“You can say that again,” Nakamura mumbled.

 

I saw similar reactions on the other’s faces, and Okano looked as if she was on the verge of puking. “Now that we know what we’re up against, let’s go over the plan,” I instructed, pulling their attention away from the disturbing information. “Team A is going to to enter the room first and scout it out. Once they give us the all-clear or call us in for backup, we’ll enter. Scavenge anything you think could be important, but keep your guard up.”

 

I saw nods once again, and continued. “Contact your partner now for confirmation.”

 

Gloved fingers went to ears, and soft murmurs of hushed conversations prickled in the air.

 

“Nagisa, how’s your position?” I asked.

 

“ _We’re about ready to enter from the vents,  but it seems this sector’s been shut off and the power keeps shutting off,_ ” he answered, voice fuzzy from static.

 

I nodded. “Keep me updated, and get ready.” 

 

“ _Got it,_ ” he said, and heard him confer with the rest of his group.

 

“Ready, guys?” Nakamura asked, looking to us (her partner was Chiba, who was in charge of navigating and breaking through the vents) before turning back to her earpiece. “Chiba, on your mark- Three, two, one,  _now_.” 

 

I heard a loud bang somewhere in the distance, and every nerve in my body stood stock-still and iron-refined, pulling my muscles taut like a puppet.

 

We waited for the signal, listening for a voice to crackle through from our partners, but the only sounds were muffled bangs and shouts punctuated by muted gunshots…. only for them to stop completely.

 

...Something isn’t right. We should have gotten a signal by now.

 

“Nagisa, are you there?” I whispered, staring unseeingly at the door in front of me.

 

_“Kar-*ffzt*-a! You all n-*ffzt*-d to-*sssh*-out!”_

 

My eyes widened, and my heart sank into my stomach.

 

“Nagisa, come in,” I tried, voice rising and ear stinging from where I had harshly pushed the earpiece in too far in desperation, “where are you? What’s going on?”

 

Harsh static wailed through my earpiece and a gasp ripped from my throat as hot pain cut across my left hip. I felt others muttering worriedly behind me to their partners, but I paid them no attention.

 

“Nagisa?” I wheezed, pressing a hand to the cut. It wasn’t too deep, but stung enough like a bitch.

 

_“We’re being-*ffzt*-ed! Get out, n-fftzt*w!”_

 

I opened my mouth to call for him, only to be cut off by a panicked  “Hiroto!”, and I turned around to see Isogai wincing with a hand pressed to his cheekbone, eyes unfocused as he stared at the floor. “Hiroto, what happened? _Hiroto!_ ”

 

I raised an eyebrow at him, remembering that he was paired with _Maehara_. I didn’t realize they were so… _familiarly_ acquainted, and by the mortified look on his face as he looked up (along with blush so dark I could see it in the muted darkness), I could see that he hadn’t meant to inform us of that fact.

 

“Uh, I-“ he started, but stopped with a hiss of pain as he pulled his hand from his face, revealing a deep gash in its wake.

 

“Isogai, what happened?” Fuwa, from the back of the group, gasped concernedly.

 

He waved his hands. “Nothing, nothing, I’m okay!” he insisted, voice tinged in panic.

 

I propped a hand on my hip and gave him a _look_ , just staring at him and watching him squirm.

 

“Guys, now is not the time,” Hazano cut in.

 

“True,” I replied, “can anyone reach their partner? Or are you all getting static?”

 

“I only hear static!”

 

“Yeah, and sometimes this high-pitched whine?”

 

“And I hear snippets of her but-“

 

“I can’t hear him!”

 

“What happened?”

 

“I can’t even get a hold of Ristu!”

 

“My phone’s dead too!"

 

It was a cacophony of chaos and panic, as if I’d flipped a switched with the simple question. This was no way to conduct a mission, but I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t just as worried about my own partner. (I shifted my jacket to hide the blood seeping from the wound.)

 

“Guys, calm down,” Nakamura cut in, voice stern yet calming. The hubbub cut out. “Let’s head into the room and investigate, okay?”

 

“Yes, let’s,” I added, somewhat distractedly, not really focusing on the words I had said. 

 

Snapping back to attention, I looked to each person for confirmation. Hesitant nods. Well, some were better than none.

 

I waved at them to move back and nodded at Nakamura, and we both leaned and aimed a solid kick at the door, feeling it groan and yield under our boots as the old metal caved in, swinging slowly open with a metallic whine.

 

A beat of uncomfortable silence.

 

“This is like a scene from a horror movie,” Sugino complained, and I heard someone shush him.

 

“Get your weapons drawn, and advance slowly,” I whispered, reaching down for the pistol at my hip and fitting it into my hand, feeling comfort in its weight and familiar shape, smiling a bit when I felt the familiar click as I snapped the safety off. 

 

Two fingers extended into the air pointed forwards twice, I gestured for them to follow me, shifting my footsteps into the silence of the _Nando_ style until my feet left nothing but silent ghosts in their wake.

 

The room was dark and musty, and in the poor light I could barely make out shapes of some sort spiraling towards the huge sloped ceiling, and smelt something bitter in the air chased by gunpowder. 

 

“Flashlights out,” I whispered, and heard the rustle of fabric and the clicking of lights, the spots of light filling the room like fireflies. 

 

Now illuminated, I could see that the room was trashed, with desks overturned and wires from panels torn out and dangling like intestines ripped from flesh. The floor was soaked with something wet, and as I shined my flashlight towards the floor I could see that it was blood (both new and old) mixed with shattered glass and something clear, streaking across the tile like failed strokes of paint.

 

I heard gasps of horror from behind me, but I ignored them, groping towards the wall to find a bank of lights. Not working when I flipped them, I smashed the butt of my gun into them and tried again,  wincing at the fluttering strobes of light before completely freezing at what they revealed: from floor to ceiling were massive tanks of some sort, and all had been shattered. Hanging impaled from the edge of one of the shattered tanks was a desiccated body so warped that its gender was indecipherable, face open in a hollow scream and body pale and sallow without an ounce of blood in it. Pooling around it from its head was a mane of rotting tentacles identical to Koro-sensei’s.

 

“Oh my god,” Nakamura breathed.

 

“What the hell did this place do?” Hazama said.

 

“The only information we have is what Ritsu told us, and that there’s something here that attacked Team A,” I said levelly. “We need to find as much information as possible and then locate the other group quickly, as well as regrouping with Terasaka, Yoshida, and Itona.”

 

“We need to find our own people first!” Sugino objected, soft face dark and upset.

 

I shook my head. “That isn’t our imperative; the others can handle themselves.”

 

“ _What?_ ”

“Are you serious?” and other clamors of disbelief and dissent filled the air.

 

“Do you really think they’re that incompetent?” I raised.

 

“What the hell, Akabane!” Nakamura yelled, and I felt her pull me around to face her. 

 

“What?” I asked. “They’ll be fine.”

 

“Didn’t you hear them screaming? They were telling us to leave!” She fired back.

 

Nagisa’s warning echoed in my head, but I shoved it aside. “We need to find the information first,” I insisted, crossing my arms.

 

“Information that may or may not exist,” she corrected, “versus our _friends_ who could be _dead_ for all we know!”

 

“I-“

 

“Aren’t you worried about them? Chiba? Hayami? Kayano? Sugaya? Okuda?” She paused, looking me dead in the eye. “Nagisa?”

 

My fists clenched at my sides, and I turned my face away.

 

“I knew you were a lazy sadist, but I didn’t think you were _heartless_ , especially for what you did for Nagisa,” she said sharply, and an angry _tch_ slipped past my lips.

 

I didn’t answer because I knew she was right; I couldn’t say anything without making a further fool of myself.

 

(I’ve always been one for combat and bloodlust, never following instructions, so why was I so dulled and _soft_? What’s wrong with me? Why am I not running head-first into battle even just for Nagisa?

 

Because he wouldn’t want that-

 

_No-)_

 

“Hey guys,” Okano said quietly, and I snapped into false attention, “does anyone hear that?”

 

I cocked my head, listening, and heard a soft scraping from the ceiling. There was a low panel just above our heads before it sloped up to accommodate the tanks, and we looked slowly towards the sound as it joined the harmony of the dripping liquid. 

 

My breath caught.

 

Stuck in one of the vents that had been harshly pulled open was a hair band, one that was decorated with a blue glass bead and a Koro-sensei-like smile on it. “No,” I whispered, and I reached up, leaning up on my toes to desperately snatch at the object. 

 

I pulled it down, gently cradling it my hands, and felt something sour churn in my stomach. I recognized it, because _I_ was the one who made it; It was a pair of hairbands I had made for Nagisa as a joke for his birthday earlier this year, but he had been so happy when I had given him something _fun_ , he had said, to pull his hair up. He _always_ wore them.

 

“Shit.”

 

A metallic screech interrupted my reverie, and I jumped back, fingers instinctively closing protectively around the band. 

 

“Everyone, on your guard,” Nakamura whispered, and I slipped the band numbly into my pocket before shifting my grip back into my gun. (My stance was off-kilter and jittery, my nerves pinging and my mind clouded by needless worry.) 

 

We stared at the ceiling, weapons drawn, for ten mind-numbing and nerve-fraying seconds.

 

I dropped my arms, casting a wary look at it before turning back to the group. “Grab any books you can, then go back out into the corridor and head for the eastern tunnel,” I directed, only to freeze to a stuttering halt when I heard high-pitched and manically-strung laughter just above me, and had barely twitched my fingers before something sharp slammed into the side of my head and I slipped, right boot sliding in the blood at my feet and feeling my skull hit into the tile.

 

My vision was blurring and my ears were ringing and I tasted blood in my teeth, and I heard voices scream my name just as another blow slammed into my face, and darkness ate away at my consciousness until I saw no more.

 

\---

 

I swirled painfully back into awakening, growing at the pounding in my head as I cracked open an eye, wincing as they refocused in the blinding lights.

 

I shuffled and pulled myself up, wincing at searing burn I felt stretch across my hip, but ignored it and pressed a hand to the stinging I felt in my temples, feeling the tacky blood dried there.

 

"You're awake!" I heard someone whisper, and turned around to see Isogai crouched next to me.

 

“Where are we? What happened?” I asked, voice dry and crackling. I grimaced at the taste of stale blood between my teeth.

 

“We’re in a examination room of some sort, and we can’t get out,” he answered, his face calm and collected, but I could see his fingers fidgeting by the knife strapped as his hip,

 

I dropped my hand and looked up, examine out surroundings. We were in a a big room with an examination table in it, and blaring bright hospital lights shined down harshly on us. The room was trashed and the bed was torn up, as if something with sharp nails had mauled it to shreds. I looked behind me to see the others were hidden in the corner furthest away from the glass window that looked out towards what looked like a viewing room and presumably the door out. The whole room was heavy with apprehension and fear that I wasn’t privy too, and I saw multiple people flinch towards their respective weapons at the slightest noise.

 

I turned back to Isogai. “You didn’t answer my other question; how did we get in here?” I demanded, watching him shift in obvious discomfort. “What knocked me unconscious?”

 

“There’s an experiment loose,” he whispered in trepidation, “and she won’t let us out until we tell her where 'the doctor' is."

 

"'She'?" I parroted, raising an eyebrow.

 

He nodded shakily. "We all only got a glimpse of her when she was screaming at us, and then she managed to incapacitate all of us and we woke up here," he explained. "She said that she'd be back with a 'guest'." The word was punctuated with drip of horror.

 

"Have we tried breaking out?" I asked.

 

"The glass is double-paned, and bullets didn't even work, and the door is only unsealable by the the computer panel outside."

 

I paused, mulling over the information. An unbreakable window, a door that can't open, missing comrades, and a group of terrified kids with a jail keeper of unknown abilities, not to mention our electronics were completely dead.

 

Well, this looks great.

 

"Do we have a plan? Anything?" 

 

He reached out and tapped Nakamura, who shuffled over to us. "We've got an idea, but we have to wait for her to come back ," she said.

 

"We're gonna try luring her towards the door and opening it for us," Isogai said.

 

"And then shooting the holy hell out of her and finding the rest of Team A," Nakamura finished with a malicious grin.

 

I sighed frustratedly and felt my fingers slip into my pocket and fiddle with the band still there. "Is that all we got?"

 

She shrugged. "All of us are injured and terrified, and we're stuck in an inescapable room; that's the best chance we've got."

 

My fingers tightened on the band.

 

Before I could say anything, I heard a scuttling noise the shriek of a door being pried open, and I felt the room collectively suck in a breath.

 

"Hello, little children,” ‘she', I presume, whispered, voice shriveled as if her vocal cords had been doused in acid, "have you decided to be good and stand down?"

 

I stood up and brushed my pants off, walking up to the glass. "Hello," I greeted, "I hear that you've been trying to find someone?"

 

A figure shuffled forwards, barely hidden by the shadows. "Do you know where he is?" she asked greedily, words liquidy and garbled.

 

I crossed my arms. "That depends. I believe you decided to chase after my classmates?"

 

She made a chittering noise of distaste. "You mean the ones from the ceiling?"

 

"Yes, them. What did you do with them?" I asked, voice even as I tried to disguise my anger.

 

She made a noise that sounded like a laugh, but was more akin to something being drowned in tar. "I'm the one with the questions here," she hissed and stepped into the light, and it took every fiber in my body not to step back in horror. She was dressed in tattered scrubs poorly covering her sickly gray skin sloughing off of her shoulders. Her hands were gnarled and twisted in dirty nails, and manacles around her wrists left bloody and pus-filled bruises around them. Her face was ghastly, all folds of what was a once-beautiful young woman pulled away from her skull, her face split by an unwavering smile of nail-sharp fangs, and her eyes were blood-shot and frosted over in a film of white. Her neck was circled by a matching manacle, and the skins around it was broken and oozing. The most notable feature was her hair, which fell to the floor in a snarl of dark black tentacles, inky and dull, and one was trailing far behind her outside, and I could hear it banging against something out there. "You need to tell me where the doctor is," she said, sickly sweet, her teeth barely separating to let a trickle of saliva spill down her chin.

 

I cocked my head dramatically, letting a cruelly innocent smile fall onto my face as I spread my hands, gesturing openly. "Who?" I asked sweetly, looking her dead in the eye. "We don't know where your precious doctor is, and I'm sure he skipped town to leave you _failures_ behind to rot."

 

(I heard somebody behind me whisper "God bless Akabane Karma," and felt a curl of self-satisfaction.)

 

She hissed and stepped back, twisted smile curling into something rage-filled. "You _liar_!" She spat. "He said he would fix me! Make me _beautiful_ again!"

 

I shook my head. "Afraid not, miss," I answered, dropping my hands.

 

She physically spat at the glass this time, coating it in bloody phlegm. I barely blinked an eye. "Where's the rest of my team?" I asked again, crossing my arms.

 

She paused, as if suddenly remembering something, and shifted to tap her lip with her finger in thought. "Those ceiling rats held up a fun challenge," she eventually said, "but they were no match for me." My eyes widened at her words, and the victorious look on her face told me she saw it. "Most of them ran like the cowards they were, but I was able to snag one, and I thought she should say hello! Maybe that would change your answer?" She asked, voice as sweet as burnt hemlock as she turned around.

 

I stepped back from the glass and signaled "get ready" to the team. I felt them shuffle behind me, and steeled myself.

 

She was trying to tug something- no, some _one_ into the room, whispering and cooing at them (her?). "Come on, love, you need to say hello to your friends!" She nudged, but her voice was a terrible mix of loving and malicious as she yanked them in, one hand fisted around their hair and her black tentacles wrapped tightly around their arms and face.

 

I felt my heart stop when I saw the familiar shock of hair and blue eyes blown wide in fear as they met mine.

 

No.

_No._

 

“Say hello, dear,” she cooed, a victorious laugh singing under her words.

 

Nagisa struggled against his bonds, wincing at the pull of his undone hair, and the bruising pain I had felt when I came back into consciousness made sharp and awful sense, and all of the breath in my lungs evaporated. (I felt my composure shatter)

 

“ _Nagisa_!” I screamed, voice cracking in desperation, and the experiment smiled at me.

 

His hands slipped out and tugged at the writhing tentacle around his mouth, pulling it away from his face. “Karma!” he rasped, his grip on the appendage slipping and letting it slip back into place. I winced at the tightness, and felt my nails sting as he scrabbled at the tentacle.

 

She laughed, ugly and cruel.  “Not so cool-headed are you now, _Karma_?” She jeered, “who’s she then, your _girlfriend?”_ She squeezed Nagisa tighter, and I hissed at both the gasp of pain I heard from Nagisa and the tightening I felt around my ribs.

 

I couldn’t think of a comeback, couldn’t speak, couldn’t _move_ ,  and my eyes were frozen on Nagisa, and I could feel panic filling my lungs though I couldn’t tell which of ours It was, and I didn’t know if I wanted to break down or dissolve into rage.

 

“We don’t have your doctor, _octo-bitch,”_ Nakamura spoke up from behind me, and I felt my mind click back into present-time, and I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

 

“So let him go,” Isogai finished calmly, and I saw his fingers inch towards his knife. 

 

I watched as the victorious look dropped from her face as she tracked the movement, and with a shriek she coiled her tentacles and _punched_ through the glass, sending all of us stumbling back in shock as she snatched Isogai’s wrist. 

 

He tugged at it and yanked backwards to no avail. She turned to him and tutted. “Didn’t I say no weapons?” She chided, and with a sickening laugh she crushed his arm and twisted it with a horrifying crack, wrenching the knife from his now-limp grip. He fell to his knees with a cry and cradled his wrist.

 

“Isogai!” Someone behind me whisper-yelled.

 

“Oi!” I yelled, storming up to the hole left in window, watching her retract her tentacle and fling the knife disdainfully away. I knocked sarcastically on the glass to get her attention. “What the hell?”

 

“We all agreed on standing down and talking on peaceful terms, no?” She said matter-of-factly, meeting my level glare. 

 

I looked behind me to Okano and Sugino by Isogai’s side, and watched as Okano tore a strip from her sleeve and bound his wrist. The rest of the team was up behind me, hunched and taut like the bared fangs of an army of hellhounds.

 

“What makes you think any of this was peaceful?” I asked through the hole. “You have a hostage, have us in captivity, and injured one of our own because he wanted to protect himself. Has that ugly face of yours addled your brain too, _witch_ , or do you not understand what ‘peaceful’ means?"

 

She snarled. “ _I_ am the one in power here! _I_ am the victim!”

 

“You are the _monster!_ ” I yelled back.

 

Wrong move.

 

“You will be _silent!_ ” She shrieked, and wrapped her tentacles around Nagisa’s throat and lifted, his feet kicking, squeezing the breath from his (our) lungs in a bruising grip. 

 

I felt a vice clamp around my airway and stars explode in my vision, and I fell hard to my knees, hands futilely clawing at my throat as I choked on nothing. I was used to the feel of Koro-sensei’s tentacles, but this bitch’s were sharp and rough, and I could feel something sharp emerging from under the phantom skin and pierce into my skin, pulling taut like barbs. _What the hell?_

 

I heard several yells of outrage and confusion as well Nagisa’s strangled cry of my name, but I couldn’t focus: my lungs were screaming and my throat was on fire, and I could feel my neck bruising in dark splotches like ink, and my eyes squeezed shut; my chest was heaving in short breaths of panic and pain and _terror_ and I couldn’t tell which was mine and which was his and my mind was shutting down and scrambling.

 

“Two for one? Well, that worked better than I thought!” She purred, dark and rusty, and I slammed one of my hands against the wall, fighting for a breath. I pulled myself up it, high enough to see Nagisa, and met his eyes. 

 

_Go._

 

“I wasn’t-“ a cough rattled in my throat, and my words were raspy, “ _I_ wasn’t conscious when you made the ‘no-violence’ rule,” I spit, and dug my fingers into the gash in my hip, feeling visceral pain tear through my side, as harsh rush of adrenaline sparked in my heart like a wildfire, and looked up to Nagisa seize up against her hold and shoot a well-aimed kick backwards into her chest. 

 

_Yes!_

 

I felt my mind kick into high-gear as the pressure around my neck released, and I fell back on my ankles as blessed air drew back into my fire-scorched lungs like a long-awaited rain, and I staggered to my feet. I whipped my head up to see Nagisa on his ass, scuttling back from the experiment and wiping a cut on his lip (which I could feel stinging on my own) and heard Isogai’s whisper of “Akabane!”, and turned to see him tossing a knife in my direction-an extra one I knew that he had hidden on his thigh- and snatched it, knowing exactly what he intended. 

 

Raising my voice above the din, I shouted for Nagisa, and threw the knife through the opening. He caught it perfectly and staggered up, eyes dark and merciless (So beautifully and terribly filled with blood-lust) as he sprang into action. I felt something cold and silent, like numbing static, fill my chest and dull my head, and it was _terrifying._

 

“Should we attack? Shoot through the opening?” Nakamura ask, and I held out a hand to silence her, shaking my head. 

 

“He’ll be fine,” I rasped, voice still sore.

 

She gave me a look, and I just shrugged.

 

“Come back here, you stupid girl!” The experiment shrieked, sending torrents of sordid tentacles hurtling towards Nagisa, who lithely ducked out of the way and stood. The next tentacle that barreled towards him he caught and sliced off, ducking out from the others as she yelped and swung at him. “You _brat!_ ”

 

“I think you may have picked the wrong group of kids to mess with, miss,” I called lazily, watching her stutter to a stop and look at me, malice written in her features. 

 

“ _You_ -“

 

“Too slow,” I interrupted, as Nagisa came behind her and slit her throat, then following with a quick stab to her kidney and a slice across her spine, severing it. She wailed and hissed and spun around, her barbed tentacles spiraling through the air, only to collapse in a heap of boiling flesh, her limbs twitching.

 

Nagisa let the knife slip from his fingers, a pressed a hand to his throat, breath heaving. He didn’t look at the corpse on the floor, his eyes lost in something awash of… blankness.

 

“Nagisa, are you alright?” Sugino called, and his head snapped up, jerky and robotic.

 

“Ah…” he glanced at his hands absently. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”

 

“Then can you help us get out? There should be a switch on the panel beside you!” Nakamura called, and he nodded, brushing his ratty hair out of his face and looking around the room. “Is it this right here?” He called, just out of our line of view.

 

“What does it look like?”

 

“Well, it says ‘unlock’.”

 

“Then you should probably push it,” I drawled, interrupting.

 

Nagisa didn’t answer, but I heard a click and a whoosh as the door slid open. Now I could see that he was ragged and in pain he was trying to disguise,  but I could feel every repressed wince rattle though my skin and felt something pang in my chest.

 

“Hey guys,” he laughed weakly, and stepped into the room, only for him to take a step forward and collapse onto his knees. 

 

I rushed forwards to him, kneeling down by his side and grabbing him by his shoulders. “Nagisa, are you alright?” I asked quietly, and felt the others creep behind me in concern.

 

“I can’t feel my legs,” he whispered, hiding under his loose hair.

 

I huffed a breath. “You over-exerted yourself, stupid,” I chastised, and he looked up at me. My eyes widened.

 

His eyes were filled with tears, and he lifted a finger to his face in shock, as if their appearance startled him as well.

 

I tilted my head in confusion. “What are you crying for?”

 

He paused, opened his mouth, then closed it, shaking his head. “I don’t know,” he said, and I could taste the lie under his tongue.

 

I gave him a look, and he hid under his hair again. _From me._

 

I switched the subject. “Where are the others?”

 

I felt him pause in confusion before answering. “Aside from me, they all were able to get back into the vents safely, aside from a few injuries here and there, and before the phones cut out they told me that help was on its way and that we had to get out safely.” His answer was emotionless, and somewhat… shameful?

 

I understood. (My heart clenched)

 

I sighed and stood, then reached down to scooped him up, bridal style. “Upsie-daisy time, we’re gettin’ out of here,” I announced, suppressing an amused smile at his squeak of surprise. 

 

I spun around and faced everyone else, checking in on them. No other major injuries aside from Isogai, and nobody was unconscious. Good. “Let’s go, everyone, but keep up your guard: minus this psycho and the dead one we saw earlier, there should be at least one experiment still lingering about.” Turning to her, I told Nakamura to lead us out, and she gave me a teasing look before cautiously stepping out, and signaling for us to follow.

 

The trip out was uneventful but twice as nerve-wracking, as we all froze at any sound and flinched at shadows. 

 

Waiting at the entrance were Itona, Terasaka and Yoshida, who looked spooked but none the worse for wear, and we headed out. 

 

(The entire time, I failed at pretending that I wasn’t reveling in the feeling of Nagisa tucked in my arms, his hands twisted in my shirt and his head nestled in my chest. I failed to pretend that I wasn’t overwhelmingly relived that I could feel his heartbeat intertwined with mine, _safe_.)

 

As we stepped foot into the open, we heard a loud, inhumane wail echo and ring from somewhere far behind us, and with no suggestion necessary we slammed the doors shut and sprinted for the armored bus we had ridden in on, clambering up the steps and yelling for the driver to go as we met up with the rest of the class, quickly swapping stories and checking up. 

 

\---

 

The ride back was quiet and sleepy, and voices were low and private as people tended to each other. Okuda had a bruised cheek and a black eye being iced by Kanzaki, and Sugino was treating a slash mark on his shin while chatting with Kayano. I saw that behind me, Nakamura was treating Isogai and Maehara, who were both sporting matching gashes on their faces and identical shattered wrists, their free hands subtly-but-not intertwined softly. (It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together when Maehara had grabbed Isogai with his good wrist and shaken him, demanding to know what happened before resting his head on Isogai’s shoulder shaking in relieved tears.) 

 

Next to me was an exhausted Nagisa, with sickly bruises around his neck and bandages covering the spots where the barbs on the tentacles had sunken in and torn his skin open. My eyes slid to his cheek, now covered in a fresh bandage, and I winced internally. 

 

After seeing what had happened in the laboratory, it became obvious that Nagisa and I were indeed soulmates, much to my chagrin and embarrassment, and as soon as Kanzaki and Nakamura had finished patching him up, they immediately turned to me and demanded that they treat me. Instinctively, I had stepped back, about to deny their assumptions when Nakamura shook her head, telling me that this time they weren’t here to tease. I had begrudgingly let them treat me.

 

Now, I nudged Nagisa, who looked about ten seconds from falling asleep, getting his attention, and reached into my pocket and dropped the hair band into his hand.

 

He gasped quietly and looked back up at me. “I thought I lost it when that experiment grabbed me.” His breath hitched, but he didn’t say anything else, only reaching up to retie his hair and faltering. 

 

“Here, let me help,” I said gently, reaching out to finish for him, heart jumping as the soft (albeit knotted) strands touched my fingers. 

 

I saw a soft yet confused blush break out over his face, and he turned away from me.

 

I sighed. “Nagisa, you don’t have to feel bad about getting captured by that crazy chick, alright?”

 

He fiddled with his fingers.

 

“Nagisa…” I said lowly.

 

He let out an exasperated noise. “She only caught me because I was weak,” he said.

 

I felt something like a fishhook spike in my chest. “Nagisa-“

 

“And she thought I was a _girl_ , Karma,” he finished angrily, though he sounded more tired than anything.

 

“And even so, you still managed to kick her ass,” I interrupted, and he sunk lower into his seat hiding the lower half of his face in the collar of his shirt.

 

“Only by completing exposing our bond to the rest of the class," he mumbled, and I rolled my eyes,

 

“It’s not like you knew she was gonna strangle you,” I countered.

 

“But if I was stronger, than I could have gotten out of her tentacles,” he replied.

 

I looked down at him. “Nagisa, those tentacles are completely immune to every substance on earth except for the bb’s and the knives we carry,” I deadpanned, “do you think you could escape from Koro-sensei’s tentacles?”

 

He shook his head.

 

“See? Even I couldn’t do it, hell, even _Karasuma_ probably couldn’t do it.” 

 

He stayed quiet, and I cuffed him on the shoulder. “Do you see where I’m going with this?”

 

He nodded. 

 

“Then don’t worry about it, okay? We’re all alive and mostly in one piece, and we got to kick some ass while doing it,” I finished.

 

I felt warmth bloom in my chest.

 

“I guess you’re right, Karma,” he said quietly, and dropped his head on my shoulder. (The smirk I had on my face vanished instantly, replaced with a blush I tried to force down)

 

“Thank you again, Karma,” he said sincerely, “thank you.”

 

“I-I didn’t do anything,” I answered, trying to keep my voice level, only to be interrupted by a giggle behind us and someone (Nakamura) calling out “Ooooooh, Nagisa and Karma are being mushy~!” 

 

I whipped around to see people peeking their heads mischievously at us, and gave them a halfhearted glare as Nagisa covered his face with his hands and burrowed into my shoulder. “Let’s just ignore them,” I suggested, and instead of answering he leaned up and kissed me on the cheek, lighter than a butterfly, and sat back down red-faced.

 

(I ignored the half-restrained squeals from behind me)

 

A hand flew to my cheek, and I looked down at Nagisa in surprise. “Did you-?“

 

“Yes I did it was a spur of the moment thing,” he blurted, his response muffled by my jacket, and I just huffed a quiet laugh.

 

“Thank you, Nagisa,” I said quietly, and kissed him softly on the temple before wrapping my arm around him and pulling both of us towards the window and shutting my eyes.

 

I decided I could let myself be a little selfish today.

Just a little.

_(I still got to take him out, just the two of us as it is, and my greedy heart was fit to burst_ )

 

(That day ended with numerous pictures of the two after the had fallen asleep, which had been eagerly shown to Koro-sensei. Nagisa was nestled in Karma, hair wild and hand curled in the fabric  of his shirt, while Karma leaned against the window with an arm wrapped tightly around Nagisa, both-for once-sleeping peacefully.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> (Fun fact- the whole time I was writing it, I just kept vehemently apologizing to Isogai in that one scene.  
> I'M SORRY. But also not...)


End file.
